Vivek Speaks Out

Vivek Oberoi is one of the most talented actors and many know him to be one of the nicest people in Bollywood. However, in his short career he has faced some controversy and many a false story has been printed about him. He usually keeps silent but now he feels that it is time to speak out. Recently in an interview he clarified quite a few things, talked about mistakes he made in the past, and of course his work in the industry.

The first thing he addressed was the false rumor of his getting drunk, flirting and then getting slapped at a party recently: “Someday if I ever write a book on The Craziest Rumours That I Have Heard About Myself this would be No 173. Jokes aside, it’s absolutely untrue. The story was upsetting as it made me out to be a sleazeball. I have tremendous respect for women. Anybody who knows me can vouch for that. My mother (Yashodhara) — is my hero. I would never do anything that would make her ashamed of me,” Vivek said.

The rumor that Sanjay Dutt was upset with him is also totally false, “These were unfortunate, baseless and untrue rumours. That’s not my upbringing. I have too much love, respect and awe for Sanju sir. He’s too gracious and large-hearted to believe such rubbish. It’s the people in between who try to feel important by creating mischief.”

Recently there was a report that his father wanted Suniel Shetty aka Anna to raise Vivek’s rate for a new movie and to this Vivek replied, “It’s a ridiculous rumour. My father doesn’t even talk money or negotiate anything. It’s unfair to drag him into this. I have a fantastic relationship with Anna, and he has too much respect for my father. I have a company, Serge Entertainment, which takes care of my contracts and fees. Dad does nothing but play golf. After 30 years of working so hard in this industry and acting in over 300 films dad deserves to live like a king, play golf and enjoy what he does.”

Controversy and false stories seem to follow him and when asked if he felt that there was something working against him he answered, “ Isn’t it obvious? It’s not just about a section, but a trend. All I am saying is give me a chance — what have I done so bad and drastic that people come after me all the time? I feel hurt and upset that I am being misrepresented all the time. I am human. I live with people who love me. I have friends and family who read things about me and feel hurt. When I come back home to find my mom and sister upset, I get upset and unhappy.”

Adding, “I was 24 when I came to this industry. I saw more fame, stardom and money in six months than most people had seen in their lifetime. I had it all in six short months and I made a few mistakes. But it was one big mistake that I made at 26 that turned my life upside- down. I am still paying for that…”

The one big mistake he was referring to was the press conference he held about Salman Khan. About why he did that he explained, “ I was crazily in love and didn’t think everything out. I made a mistake.”

Vivek said that, though seen as a publicity stunt, his public apology to Salman at an awards show last year was not that at all but what he felt he should do,” I was on a high after the success of Shootout At Lokhandwala so I didn’t need to indulge in such stunts. It wasn’t out of necessity that I did it. I felt that it was the right thing to do. It would be cowardly to publicly accuse someone, then privately say ‘hey I am sorry.’ I wanted to crush that little ego that was lurking inside me. If I am wrong, I am wrong and I let the world know that. That gives me strength. It’s unfair to call it a publicity stunt.”

“I publicly and privately apologised for it because I thought if I have insulted someone publicly at a press conference then I should publicly apologise for it. If this makes me a bigger person, teaches me a lesson in humility and reduces my bad karma. I believe in karma and that I more than paid for it,” he added.

Another thing that, though it should be the opposite, Vivek gets bad press for is his charity work and he says now: “I have decided that even though I am the brand ambassador of many causes, I won’t speak about them, as I don’t want the causes to suffer. I get bashed for everything I do. I have been fortunate to do God’s work in many ways and thought that by speaking about it, I would get more people involved, which did happen. But then it backfired — if I built houses for the tsunami victims, people said I did it for publicity; when I sponsored children for heart surgery, they said I did it for publicity! Dudes, life is a lot more than that!”

Lately, of course there have been stories of him dating this girl and that and he said, “Well, I hope so. After all, I am a normal, single man. When I was in both my serious relationships (Gurpreet Gill and Aishwarya Rai) I was very committed. But now that I am single, I am allowed to date, ain’t I? I enjoy the company of women but I don’t misbehave with them. Without meaning to sound arrogant I think I am decent looking and charming enough to have female attention.”

Vivek then went on to talk about working for Karan Johar on his new film, “Karan’s not only one of the biggest producers we have in the industry, but also creatively one of the finest and best directors to work with. Karan and I are friends aside from being professionals and he’s always advising me on clothes, fashion, looks, styling etc.” He went on to say that Karan is his “fashion godfather”.

Some are saying that the only reason he is working for Karan is to get closer to Shah Rukh Khan and Vivek totally denied this saying, “If my sole objective were to get close to Shah Rukh, which is silly as I already share a certain degree of closeness with him, then I would have done Om Shanti Om, which was his film. Shah Rukh (or God, as I fondly call him from the time we did Saathiya) and I have always shared a lovely relationship. Shah Rukh and Gauri have always welcomed me to their home and have been there for me. I love partying with them and it’s a great equation we share. I will attend Shah Rukh’s IPL match in Kolkata on April 20 to cheer Shah Rukh and his Kolkata Knight Riders,” he stated.

Adding, “Work is work, and relationships are relationships. The reason that I am doing Karan’s film is because Rensil’s script is fantastic.” Directed by Rensil D’Silva, the film also stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

So why before this interview did he stay silent? “I decided to retreat behind silence because whatever I did, or didn’t do, I was attacked. I am happy to be working with people who are like family to me. I have developed these amazing relationships with many people from my fraternity who have begun to see who I really am.

I have gone through this entire evolution and I share a fantastic rapport with many people now. I feel now that I have had enough, people have had enough, so they just let me be. I am putting my head down and working hard.”

Up next for Vivek is the release of Mission Istanbul later this year, then in October he begins work on Karan’s production and he also has some other exciting projects on the horizon! We will be sure to report all the news about this fabulous actor so check back here often!